Sunday, September 30, 2007

Public Announcement: My Future in Politics...

After seeing this hotel on a Blackpool backstreet, Dizzy has drawn the conclusion that I shall be forsaking politics and the media for a new career as a Blackpool hotelier. And in other news today, Tony Benn announced his defection to the Conservative Party.

26 comments:

THOUSANDS of votes could be lost amid widespread ballot box chaos if Gordon Brown calls a snap Westminster poll, the UK’s leading election official warned last night.

As election fever continued to mount, disturbing new details emerged from the Association of Electoral Administrators of delays in printing and distributing postal ballots, an out-of-date electoral roll and loopholes in anti-fraud laws.

AEA chief executive John Turner last night told Scotland on Sunday he had directly warned the Government and was “fearful” of an administrative crisis should Brown press ahead with a general election as early as November. His comments were backed by other leading election officials.

The Prime Minister will spend today at Chequers, his country residence, discussing an early election with his closest advisers. In Scotland, Labour party officials have been told to prepare for an election on either November 1 or 8.

As the latest polling showed Labour up to 11 points ahead of the Tories, sources close to Brown said only a bravura performance by Tory leader David Cameron at this week’s Conservative party conference could stop the election going ahead.

But the AEA warning could throw an unexpected obstacle in Brown’s path.

Turner said: “If there is an autumn election there will be a significant number of administrative problems. I’m fearful of the possibility of things going wrong administratively because of the pressures involved.”

Concerns centre on the problematic postal voting system, which continues to place election officers under a huge burden. The AEA has called on the Government to change the law to extend the time limit between the dissolution of parliament and an election by at least another five working days to 22 days.

However, if he goes ahead with an early election, Brown looks set to restrict the time limit to the current 17 days.

Turner said: “The small number of specialist, commercial printers who produce the ballot packs will have significant problems in dealing with the additional volumes within the limited time available.”

The AEA is also warning that some people will be unable to vote or to receive a postal vote because the new electoral roll is not published until December 1.

Turner added that he was also concerned that anti-fraud laws introduced in England and Wales in May would not come into force in Scotland until next year. The laws, introduced after a High Court judge ruled that the vote-rigging in Birmingham’s 2004 elections would have “shamed a banana republic”, aim to make postal voting more secure by making electors provide their signature and date of birth.

Turner said: “The danger is that we have a dual system where Scotland does not have the same strictures as England and Wales.”

Difficulties over postal votes, which have been championed by ministers as a way of increasing turnout, could be exacerbated by two UK-wide 48-hour postal strikes on October 4-6 and October 8-10.

The UK-wide AEA, which represents returning officers and other public servants responsible for organising elections, is seeking an urgent meeting with the UK Justice Department.

Turner said: “One minute after the polls closed in May we told the Government about our grave concerns. And at the end of last week, I sent a note to the Ministry of Justice saying that those difficulties still exist and asking how we could overcome them. The message needs to get out that there’s the possibility of problems that could affect the conduct of the election.”

I once spent a happy week here during the 1983 election. It was a holiday with my grandparents - the owner was a local Tory and his daughter, with whom I fell in love, went to a local private school. As a socialist I was ashamed of my feelings - but matters of the heart have always been a weakness. Two old men were staying there as well Mr Fido and My Jolly.

The postal shambles decribed could be intentional on Brown's part. He's putting out ludicrous polling leads to establish false expectations, and then orchestrating postal fraud on the industrial scale to secure the election...especially in Scotland where othwise he'd be whitewashed.

I can imagine you as a Blackpool Landlord, Iain. Friday night trips to The Cod Cottage for your fish & chips and regular guest appearances at Funny Girls. A new career could be just about to present itself (and you could aways return to Maidstone in 2011).

What is this I glimpse in the Sindy, Iain ? Is Sayeed Awarsi going to be defecting to the BNP ? I haven't read the full article yet, but surely this is potentially embarrassing for the Tories in their conference week ?